AGC and GDI collaborate on silicon anodes for batteries

AGC Glass Europe and GDI extend collaboration to develop and industrialize 100% silicon anodes for batteries to replace graphite

US battery technology company GDI will construct its first manufacturing plant in Lauenförde, Germany to produce silicon anodes for EV batteries. Production will start in 2025 and scale up to 100 MWh by 2026 and up to 1 GWh by 2029. GDI will partner with glass producer AGC Glass Europe to provide coating expertise, advanced manufacturing equipment, and know-how for the production of 100% silicon anodes.

On 29 September 2022, GDI, a manufacturer of 100% silicon anodes, and AGC Glass Europe (AGC), a technology innovator and world leader in flat glass for the automotive, solar, and high-tech industries, and Schlenk SE (Schlenk), a German-based leading international manufacturer of metal powders, pigments, and foils for a wide variety of industries, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and manufacture an Advanced Silicon Anode to power electric vehicles and decrease dependence on graphite.

On 10 January 2024, GDI and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement on a financial instrument worth €20 million to scale up the production of the silicon anode. The EIB loan will support GDI in developing its 100% silicon anode technology towards gigawatt scale industrial production in collaboration with AGC and Schlenk. Production capacity of 100 MWh is expected by 2026 with planning for 1 GWh capacity by 2029.

AGC Glass Europe, through its business unit AGC Plasma Technology Solutions, will engineer, manufacture and use its state of the art PlasmaMAX™ PECVD coating technology as a production system for ultra-high rate deposition in the mass production of 100% silicon anodes with superior quality, unparalleled uniformity control, and high precursor utilization rates. In addition, GDI has selected the AGC industrial site in Lauenförde near Holzminden in Lower Saxony to provide coating expertise, advanced manufacturing equipment, and know-how.